The New School Free Press interviewed Heury Gómez with translation assistance from Carolina Zapata. 

Having immediately returned from a long-awaited 5-day birthday trip to Mexico City, Heury Gómez, 43, sat anxiously in a questioning room in Newark Airport. Moments earlier, he expected to resume his job as a night porter at The New School that evening, and to return to care for his 18-year-old disabled son, Noah. Having just been told without explanation by US Customs and Border Protection officers that he would be detained until he could see a judge, he waited, unsure of his future and desperate to return promptly to his son, Carolina Zapata, his roommate and first cousin, explained in an interview with AMNY.    

“I was … really nervous as I was waiting in the airport,” Gómez said. “I didn’t know what was happening or why I was being held because I’d traveled in the past and re-entered the country and didn’t have an issue … I was thinking about how my job, my son, and my family were waiting for my return.” Zapata told the Daily News he was held there for over 30 hours and was never given any proper context regarding the justification for his detention. 

Gómez is a lawful permanent resident of the United States who immigrated 20 years ago from the Dominican Republic. He arrived and was granted lawful permanent resident status in 2005, at the age of 23. His son, Noah, was born 2 years later. Noah suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He is nonverbal, cannot walk, and breathes through a tracheostomy tube. These conditions require daily specialized care, and he has lived in residential care since 2018, according to CNN.

According to New Sanctuary Coalition NYC, in March of 2025, the Bronx Family Court finally granted Gómez full custody of his son after an extensive and exhausting custody battle. Prior to his rare moment of relaxation in Mexico, Gomez was preparing to begin independently caring for Noah full time, which would require medical home care training. Before his brief trip, he was making time between long work hours to visit his son at the hospital he resides in and beginning to learn how to provide intricate medical support, according to CNN. 

Gómez’s reunion with his son was unfortunately obstructed, and he never got to begin his intensive training upon arrival. Immediately upon his return, he was unexpectedly detained by US Customs and Border Protection at the airport.

ICE attempted to justify his attempted deportation by citing misdemeanor third-degree attempted assault and attempted petit larceny charges from 2017, both regarding a 2015 incident with a former partner, despite the matter being resolved. Gómez has maintained his innocence, and his family has shared in a GoFundMe post that the incident “has never defined who he is, nor should it be used now to tear him away from his son.” DHS described Gómez as a “criminal illegal alien, who was deemed inadmissible when he tried to enter the country,” in a written statement given to CNN.

After his initial detention Gómez was transferred from the airport to a New Jersey ICE facility. He was kept there until Aug. 19th, when he was abruptly woken up in the middle of the night by agents, shackled, and transported to a detention center in Michigan, where he then resided for nearly three months while waiting for his court hearing.

Gómez’s situation is yet another example of the targeting and mistreatment of immigrants and permanent U.S. residents under Donald Trump’s second term. “It feels like we’re losing our democracy,” Gómez said. “It feels like we’re going into a dictatorship. The persecution of immigrants right now is just really unfair. I was detained with so many good people with loving families, many of whom don’t have a serious record or who don’t have a record.”

“I met people who have been here for over 30 years, who have worked really hard, and have built a life for themselves here, and a retirement, and all of that is being stripped away from them,” Gómez said. “This is a huge injustice. ICE is as cold as ice … There’s so many parents being separated from their children, from their families, this just can’t continue on like this. ”

In September, Zapata and Gómez’s family took his story to the public with their GoFundMe fundraiser, which has to date raised over $45,000. They found Gómez a lawyer and helped put together a strong defense team. According to a Freeheury Instagram post, they provided a letter to Gómez’s legal team with 1311 signatures from The New School community on October 28th. 

“The first $10,000, definitely, came from our network of family and friends … but then we got a huge boost, I would say, probably like a good $15,000 … just from The New School network,” Zapata said. “It was more than just the financial … it was also the letters of support, and then people showing up to the hearing from The New School. It played such an important role in Heury’s defense, quite frankly because it really helped paint a picture of his value and his deep ties in the United States.”

“I feel so blessed to be a part of The New School community,” Gómez said. “It really lifted my spirits and I was so happy and grateful for the support.”

In a Nov. 12 GoFundMe update, Gómez’s family revealed he was finally granted a cancellation of removal. “I was really nervous at first,” he said in regard to the news. “I saw how many people were getting denied and getting deported by the judges.” 

The post also mentioned that over 150 people showed up to his online hearing, so many that they could not all be admitted to watch. His judge acknowledged that he had never seen so much support for anybody in a courtroom and that he couldn’t gather 150 people himself. 

The judge went on to cite the necessity of Gómez’s presence for the medical wellbeing of his son and praised the preparedness and dedication of his legal team and attorney. “I was crying tears of joy when the judge granted my release,” Gómez said. “I’m so utterly grateful and humbled by all the people that believed in me and showed up to support and rally behind me.”

“I wasn’t expecting so many people to show up, but the fact that over 100 people showed up …  was just very moving … It’s hard to find the words to describe how deep my gratitude and excitement was to see that. I just felt like it was such a monumental moment, and a big middle finger to this administration,” Zapata said.

According to a Freeheury Instagram post, nearly a week after his cancellation of removal, Gómez was still being held in ICE custody because the detention center claimed they were still waiting for his release paperwork. “There was absolutely no clear indication from the ICE Detroit field office on what was causing this delay,” Gómez’s family explained in an Instagram post. The community flooded the ICE Detroit field office with calls and emails, and Gómez was ultimately freed from detention and returned to his family on November 17.

“I’m very happy and grateful,” Gómez said. “I’m so grateful to God that I have my freedom back and I’m happy to be back with my son. I’ve been so thrilled to spend time with Noah and give him all the happiness and love he deserves, and that I’ve been waiting to give him.” He noted that he still had to reflect on the possibility that he’d be permanently separated from his son. 

Although he still retains his permanent residence status, ICE failed to immediately return his physical green card. He has to now report it as lost, which leaves him at risk of being detained unlawfully again.

“This was a really dark period for our family,” Zapata said. “Thank you to everyone who leaned in, lifted us up and supported us. We couldn’t have done it without The New School community, I mean, you guys were crucial in this journey.” 

Zapata requested we mention Alee Vang, who was deported to Laos in December of 2025 after being held in the same Michigan facility as Gómez for a month. Vang lived in the U.S. for over 30 years and is a loving father and husband. He was unjustly and suddenly detained during a routine ICE check-in. For more information, Vang’s GoFundMe can be found here: https://bit.ly/donate-alee